Theatre group to launch ‘Project E’ at the Waldron

Though Euripides has been dead for thousands of years, the ancient Greek’s plays live on in productions like the Theatre of the People’s upcoming “Double Feature of Beauty Betrayed,” according to a press release. The aptly-titled play will feature their versions of the classics “Medea” and “The Trojan Women.”

“This is new and it’s updated and it’s a complete re-vamping of the stories,” said Theatre of the People’s co-artistic director and IU alumna Hannah Moss, who portrays Medea.

Moss said the directors have set “Medea” in the desert and “The Trojan Women” in a post-apocalyptic world, both in the present or the near future.

In “Medea,” the title character has left her home to marry Jason (of Argonaut fame); they settled in Corinth while raising two children when Jason decides to leave his family, hoping to increase his status by marrying Glauce, the city-state’s princess.  

“(Medea) is an outsider. She’s treated like a barbarian,” said Ronald Wainscott, professor of theater history, theory and literature. “They called ‘barbarian’ anyone who was not Greek.”

Fearing reprisal from Medea, King Creon banishes her and her children. However, before she leaves, Medea poisons Glauce and the king and kills her own children. She believes the pain of their loss is outweighed by the satisfaction of hurting Jason so thoroughly. She escapes, and Jason is left to bemoan his tragic mistake that resulted in the loss of everything he loved.

“It’s kind of ambiguous who’s at fault,” Moss said. “Who is responsible for the madness?”

“The Trojan Women” follows the female captives taken as war trophies by the Greeks following the Trojan War. Main characters include several members of the royal family – Hecuba, queen of the fallen city; her daughter Cassandra, the insane prophetess; and Andromache, wife of the now-dead crown-prince Hector. They have watched as their husbands, brothers and sons were slaughtered and are now essentially slaves to their enemies, divvied up as the spoils of war. Even Astyanax, the infant child of Andromache and Hector, is murdered by the Greeks due to the fear that he would grow up to seek vengeance.

“Every time I go into rehearsal, it’s so taxing because it’s a very emotional play,” said freshman Sean Cole, co-director of “The Trojan Women.” “These women have gone through so much ... their entire world has been destroyed.”

Fans of Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” will recognize many famous names, such as Helen of Troy; Odysseus, king of Ithaca; Agamemnon, general of the Greeks; and Menelaus, king of Sparta and Helen’s rightful husband.

Wainscott said “The Trojan Women” is especially relevant to modern-day America.
“It’s often revived in times of war,” he said, though he added that both are produced often. “I frequently teach ‘Medea’ in my own classes.”

Known as Project E by Theatre of the People, this will be their third double feature of the season, following Project L, “Ladies of Lust,” with Oscar Wilde’s “Salome” and August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” and Project I, with Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” and “An Enemy of the People.”